Joss
“Just hang in there a few more seconds and…. Done.”
I breathe easy for the first time in an hour, glancing up at the artist who just permanently marked my skin. Dane insisted on coming straight here, not even twelve hours after learning about my list. He thought I’d chicken out if too much time passed, so here we are.
“You good?” he asks, drawing my attention to him and away from Max, the artist.
“Hurts like hell, but I’m good.”
Dane glances down at the daisy inked on top of my foot and laughs. “Probably wasn’t a good idea to get your first one right over bone.”
When he warned me of this over breakfast, it hadn’t fallen on deaf ears. However, I wanted something that won’t be the first thing someone notices when meeting me. Or the first thing my parents see when I finally lay eyes on them again.
I brush off that thought before it can make me sad and glance up to thank Max for his work. He tops the tattoo with ointment, wraps my foot, then I hop down from the chair. Dane insists on paying since he was the one who suggested I knock a few things off what I’ve officially dubbed the ‘Never Have I Ever’ list. Then, once he’s done, we cross the parking lot to his car.
“You gonna be all right?” he asks with a smirk, watching me wince with every step I take.
When I give him the finger instead of an actual response, his smirk turns into laughter.
“Here. Hop on.”
He says those words, but it takes time for them to register. Even when he stands in front of me and reaches back, drawing me closer by my wrist. I’m trying not to overthink things as I’m hoisted up onto his back, with his rock-solid arms wrapped around my legs as I cling to him.
My cheek presses against his hair and it’s hard to ignore the closeness. His scent is something I think of often, following a close call we had this past Christmas. Visiting his family in Louisiana led to a game of Truth-or-Dare with his rowdy cousins, and that game ended up being the closest Dane and I ever came to crossing the line. It began with a dare to kiss him, and it ended with me being mortified when I couldn’t follow through.
Now, as my arms rest over his broad shoulders, as I squeeze him between my legs, it’s on my mind again, and so is last night’s conversation. I hardly slept because it was all I could think about. When Dane added the fourth item to the list, I was admittedly confused.
Did he mean he’d help me find some random guy to lose my virginity to? Or… did he mean to make it sound like it should be him?
If I’m being honest, I only agreed to it because I assumed he meant the latter, but I know that makes me sound like a walking contradiction—agreeing to sleep with him when I’ve spent so much time and energy trying to convince us both I don’t want that.
But as the sun breathes its sweltering heat over us, and as Dane’s muscles flex and roll beneath his skin, I feel him everywhere. When I exhale a breath near his ear, he responds by lightly brushing his thumb down my thigh.
Resisting him sure as hell won’t be easy.
He carries me all the way to the passenger-side door and doesn’t put me down until he opens it. When I slip off his back, the action of my body moving against his has me letting out another of those ragged breaths. Especially when I climb into the seat and meet his green stare. It tells me I wasn’t the only one thinking things I shouldn’t have been.
He keeps that look trained on me as he closes me in, not averting his stare until he rounds the hood of his car. By the time he gets in, I’ve decided it’s probably best that I focus my gaze out the window, but that lasts for all of ten seconds. We’re not moving, so I peek over to see why and find Dane posting the pics from today’s adventure. Including the one of me crying actual tears.
“You dick! Did you seriously just share that?”
I’m yelling, but laughing as hard as I am, he doesn’t take me seriously.
“Sure did. And it’s my favorite one of the day.”
“Of course, it is. Because it’s the one I hate most.” When I roll my eyes, he nudges me playfully.
“Relax. You still look good in it.”
The compliment makes my heart flutter even though its innocent enough. It’s just that, coming from him, things like that always feel so much more weighted.
“You should come with me to my shoot. It starts in an hour, but I like to get there a bit early. You down?”
I’ve never tagged along for one of these gigs, but I have been curious about how they go.
“You sure that’s okay?”
He laughs a bit. “Why the hell wouldn’t it be?”
I shrug, imagining I’d be in the way, making him uncomfortable in front of the camera.
“Just say yes,” he croons with a smirk. “It’ll be fun.”
I blink into the sunlight, weighing my options—chill at home alone, or hang with my best friend the rest of the day. It’s kind of a no-brainer.
“Can we stop for food first?”
He glances down at the clock before answering. “We should have time, but I’ll just get something for you. Rose insists we show up to shoots on an empty stomach. And seeing as how I already cheated and had breakfast, I probably shouldn’t push it.”
He smiles after that, but I don’t. The more I hear about her, the more I hate the woman’s guts. However, I keep my thoughts to myself.
“Sure, okay. I’m in.”
“Good.”
His gaze slips to my lips when he wets his own and I feel heat from more than just the blazing sun when he scans me with a look. Hopefully, this shoot is rated-PG, but… is it bad that I’m secretly hoping it isn’t?
Damn. On second thought, maybe this isn’t such a good idea after all.
